Paper Mines Graphonium Unternehmergesellschaft (haftungsbeschraenkt) Paper Mines is a very difficult skill game that puts your reaction time to the test. You control a mine cart through a c… Free Buy Now Watch Media DetailsPaper Mines is a very difficult skill game that puts your reaction time to the test. You control a mine cart through a charming paper diorama made of more than 400 handmade parts. Paper Mines is a casual game. There is no story, just buckle up and go. GAMEPLAY You’re steering a mine cart down alpine slopes and through dark mines. Steering the mine cart is simple. You can brake, duck your head and hang on to ropes. The game uses a random generator to create a new world for every ride. Each ride is unique and you have to react fast because you never know what’s coming next. The game is difficult! There are no checkpoints. If you hit an obstacle, you have to start your ride all over again. In level one, the landscape only consists of small hills and valleys. But each level adds additional landscape elements to the world. With each level the world becomes more complex and challenging, yet also more beautiful. The acoustics are minimalistic and relaxing. No music, just the rattling of the wheels, the tweeting of the birds, the chirping of the crickets and the noise of a warm summer breeze. Paper Mines is a premium game and without ads or in-app purchases. You just pay once and you can play as often, as long and anywhere you want. Play Paper Mines and enjoy a unique and challenging ride! FEATURES - 20 levels - Landscape made of more than 400 handmade parts - A new and randomly generated world for each round - Real physical movement - Minimalistic sound - Day and night cycle - Four landscape styles (Paper, Wood, Gray Paper, Silhouette) - Three levels of difficulty - Paper Mines is a premium game without ads or in-app purchases Information Seller:Graphonium Unternehmergesellschaft (haftungsbeschraenkt) Genre:Adventure, Arcade Release:Sep 26, 2019 Updated:Jul 08, 2020 Version:2.2.0 Size:28.1 MB TouchArcade Rating:Unrated User Rating:Unrated Your Rating:unrated Compatibility:HD Universal Hi everyone I'm an amateur Indie developer and Paper Mines is my first game. (And this is my first post) Paper Mines is a combination of skill game, downhill race, reaction test and art project. You steer a mine cart through a beautiful paper diorama that is made of more than 600 handmade parts. All movements are based on a realistic physical simulation. The mine cart is accelerated by gravity and you can brake, duck your head, hang on to ropes and trigger switches. You need to complete a task to unlock the next level. The landscape is inspired by the Alps and I recorded all ambient sounds in southern Germany, near the black forest. Paper Mines is a passionate and minimalistic game that focuses on details and a beautiful atmosphere. During your ride you concentrate on passing obstacles, yet when you crash you start noticing all the details. You might spot that all ropes are fixed with tiny nails, screws or hooks; and that each bit of grass is attached with glue, which shows through the thin paper. (Some test-players told me that they crash on purpose to enjoy the landscape). You will find much more details when you play the game. The game’s artistic style combines the passion for details and the simplicity of paper dioramas. Accessibility Right from the start I planed to integrate a special mode for colorblind gamers. During development however, I realized that it is quite fun to play the game in monochrome. So I renamed the mode from „colorblind“ to „monochrome“ and added an additional mode with high contrast for gamers with low vision. You should try these different game modes, they are fun to play. (Settings > to the left) More than 300 million people on this planet are colorblind and I think all serious games should provide this accessibility feature. Check my website if you want to see the images of the different game modes. www.graphonium.de This is my first game and I'm truly interested in your opinion. (the game, the monochromatic landscape, trailer, ...). I will post a few promotion codes on the "Promo codes and Contest" forum. https://toucharcade.com/community/forums/promo-codes-and-contests.22/ Thanks! Link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/paper-mines/id1475261274 Website: www.graphonium.de Capronissimo71 Well-Known Member Sep 5, 2011 1,305 137 63 Male Italy #2 Capronissimo71, Feb 14, 2020 Interestng! Looks a little bit like games as Alto's Odissey and similar ones. I'll grab it for sure! IndieGraph likes this. macplash Well-Known Member Apr 17, 2014 2,645 1,103 113 Male 3D artist Munich, Germany #3 macplash, Feb 14, 2020 @IndieGraph first and foremost: congratulations on your first game and welcome to the TouchArcade forums. Well, let me give you some feedback. Level 5 so far, so I can honestly say I spent my fair share of time in-game to be able to give you some constructive criticism... Nah, just kidding. Nothing of sorts. Mostly praise from now on. Visually it’s really beautiful. A lot of details to admire even though not sooner than after actually failing. During the run it’s important to stay focused instead of looking around. I failed multiple times just because of that. The overall beauty is actually distracting. It has this Alto vibe which is definitely a plus. Especially day and night cycle is a work of art. I mean, dusk and dawn. Such a beauty. Physics is perfect. Everything feels very natural. Movement, interactions, inertia, the feel of weight.. it’s all there. It’s quite impressive if you ask me. The same goes to controls. Very responsive (which is a must in this type of game), very smooth and natural. The gameplay is relaxing and challenging at the same time. I love the procedurally generated levels. Every and each attempt is unique. Keeps you interested, forces you to stay focused. Every run is variable enough to offer the right amount of challenge. Ducking, sliding, braking and alternating between them is served in the right amount. It’s very unfortunate how this option is hidden in the settings. I didn’t realize I’m able to change visuals until I read this. I thought the sound volume is the only settings there. You need to make this more visible, more obvious. Especially because every single mode of those four is quite unique and equally stunning. Frankly, it’s pretty hard to pick up favorite. All of them are just awesome! So again. It needs to be more accessible. My only nitpick goes to braking sound. It doesn’t sound like braking - it’s more like a conductor’s whistle. Not that it matters or alter the overall experience. Just saying so I can criticize something. To sum it up the game’s work of art. As I mentioned before it has this Alto vibe despite being very different. I highly encourage everyone to give it a try. Game mechanics are fairly straightforward. No difficult introduction required, no steep learning curve present. It’s simple enough to pick up and enjoy. In short bursts or longer sessions. Highly recommended! IndieGraph likes this. IndieGraph Member Feb 14, 2020 7 4 3 #4 IndieGraph, Feb 15, 2020 @macplash thank you for playing Paper Mines and special thanks for sharing your opinion! I’m really glad you like the game and I consider your post a huge compliment. Thanks! I love your constructive criticism : I already started working on a new update to make the landscape modes more visible. The work is still in progress. My current idea is to move the landscape mode to the main menu like this: The current main menu: Info —— Settings —— Start —— Workshop —— Level New main menu: Settings —— Landscape —— Start —— Workshop —— Level The content of the info button will be moved to Settings. I think nobody will miss the Info panel as part of the main menu. What do you think about this change? I know what you mean. I wanted to create all the sound effects by myself and the braking sound is actually a nail scratching on metal. (The wheel noise is a humming top on a wooden desk). Maybe I find something better. But as you mentioned it is not a pressing matter. I will release a new version of the game during next week. (I don’t know whether you will receive an update if you downloaded the game using a promo code.) Thanks again for your feedback! Makara Nou likes this. macplash Well-Known Member Apr 17, 2014 2,645 1,103 113 Male 3D artist Munich, Germany #5 macplash, Feb 18, 2020 Yes, the landscape settings is much easier to access now but the menu itself still doesn’t feel very natural. On the contrary. It’s quite confusing. For example, I don’t know if it’s a new addition, but up to this point I didn’t have a clue there’s difficulty settings. Or that you can switch between imperial and metric system. Not to mention, going deeper into menu (by tapping left on settings) means that going back is required by tapping right on start which makes no sense. I’m still navigating the menu, not starting anything. Also I encountered some broken menu buttons in new version. This never happened before. See screenshot attached below. And a few typos like your instead of you (level 4 description) etc. Nothing major obviously, just saying. Attached Files: 0A5B3C78-F207-4901-8A72-C32091505AD5.png File size: 3 MB Views: 4 IndieGraph Member Feb 14, 2020 7 4 3 #6 IndieGraph, Feb 18, 2020 Last edited: Feb 18, 2020 @macplash thanks, your thoughts are quite helpful! Now you mention it, the button label "Start >" might be confusing. Maybe the buttons should be labeled like this "< More Settings" "Return >". This might help. At the beginning I only had one settings panel. Over time I added more settings and today I ended up with this menu. Maybe I should rethink the menu design for the next major update. In the meanwhile I might change the button labels to make the menu a bit more obvious. Well, this is supposed to be a feature. But I think it isn't obvious enough . I uploaded an image to explain the idea. The buttons should look like they were projected on the paper diorama. Maybe this feature is irritating instead of beautiful. The player shouldn't associate this visual effect with a broken button. Maybe I should use a different effect for the UI. Makara Nou Well-Known Member May 29, 2019 563 152 43 Male https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9mojIWbYFolADF7ZwPJQxA?view_as=subscriber #7 Makara Nou, Feb 18, 2020 First of all, the game truly has a potential and worth trying. This is what the game is about: - The setting menu doesn’t follow the traditional style. So, players might feel disoriented at first - The game is very simple with one finger swipe control. - The game is not forgiving as players will die a lot and there’s no checkpoint. - Players can feel relaxed and enjoy the natural atmosphere. But the mode can change quickly as players go thru the cave (it feels intense and a bit scary) IndieGraph Member Feb 14, 2020 7 4 3 #8 IndieGraph, May 14, 2020 Hi everyone I started this thread three months ago. Since then, several gamers have provided valuable feedback about the game. The comments in this thread where very helpful – thanks! I spend the last three month working on a major update for Paper Mines to include some of your feedback. Luminous Crystals From now on you can find luminous crystals inside the mines. The crystals glow in various colors and you can smash large crystals with your hook. Miners use this crystals to produce luminous paint. Some obstacles inside the mines are highlighted with this paint and the mines are more colorful and interesting than before. The luminous paint is also used to decorate your mine cart - check out the workshop. Workshop A brand new workshop with more than 15 new upgrades for your cart. You can upgrade your cart with new wheels, brakes, shock absorbers and other items. Some of this items are made of crystals and glow in the dark! Improved UI Thanks to the comments above I realized that the UI might be confusing (or at least not self explaining). The new UI is white and without any projection. So the UI should be easier to read. Additionally, the menu navigation uses a scroll bar. This should make things clearer. Thank you @macplash and @Makara Nou Here are the new screenshots. Let me know what you think of the crystals and the new workshop. Makara Nou likes this. Makara Nou Well-Known Member May 29, 2019 563 152 43 Male https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9mojIWbYFolADF7ZwPJQxA?view_as=subscriber #9 Makara Nou, May 14, 2020 HEiRAVON Well-Known Member Dec 3, 2015 214 24 18 #10 HEiRAVON, May 15, 2020 Wow! Never heard of this until visiting here today. What a wonderful piece of digital treasure this is! Truly a great experience and feast for the eyes! Thanks for creating such gaming bliss for us! So worth the $5! IndieGraph Member Feb 14, 2020 7 4 3 #11 IndieGraph, May 15, 2020 @HEiRAVON thanks a lot for your kind post! Unfortunately, I’m an amateur Indi developer with a limited budget and hardly anyone knows that my game exists. I have only little experience with app marketing. So I like to ask this community for help. So fare I wrote some mails to propose my game for review. I received a great review from Netzwelt, yet only a few people read Netzwelt. Any platform you could recommend? Can I propose my game for review on Touch Arcade? Paper Mines has a Facebook account (https://www.facebook.com/PaperMinesByGraphonium). I tried to use Facebook Ads but I’m not sure whether I selected the right customer group. If you like Paper Mines, maybe you could like, follow or share the Paper Mines page with your friends. Eventually this helps. Do you have any other suggestions? Any help is appreciated. ste86uk likes this. ste86uk Well-Known Member May 9, 2012 6,774 1,000 113 #12 ste86uk, May 15, 2020 I haven’t really checked this page but popping in so it doesn’t show as unread the devs post made me want to look more at the game. It looks good and the comments here are encouraging and as a bonus it says it’s on sale so that’s even better! I’m just wondering what the gameplay cycle is? Is it similar to Summer Catchers and it’s ilk where you do runs, earn things to buy upgrades that may help you make it further the next time? IndieGraph Member Feb 14, 2020 7 4 3 #13 IndieGraph, May 15, 2020 @ste86uk welcome to this thread! The Game Cycle Paper Mines is structured in 20 levels. The game has a data base with more than 200 predefined landscape sections (if you include any variation – like different flowers – there are more than 500 elements). A powerful random generator creates a new world for each run. Level 1 is the tutorial. In level 2 only the basic landscape elements are available. So the random generator creates a world only using the basic elements. To complete a level you have to complete a task for example: ride 2000m, smash 10 crystals or open 5 gates. Each level unlocks new landscape elements. This means the landscape gets more complex with each level. Upgrades are a new function in version 2.0. You can buy a better headlamp or better brakes for instance. I have played my game so often and I know all obstacles by heart, so I managed to play all 20 levels without upgrades – but this is a true challenge. However, you can also buy items that have no technical functionality. For example you can decorate your cart with a graffiti that glows in the dark or use wheels that emit luminous dusk. Paper Mines is a skill game. The game is putting your reaction time to the test while looking like a peaceful paper diorama. I hope this answer was helpful. ste86uk likes this. ste86uk Well-Known Member May 9, 2012 6,774 1,000 113 #14 ste86uk, May 15, 2020 @IndieGraph thank you for your response, I’ve just purchased the game and will hopefully find time on the weekend to check it out. IndieGraph likes this. (You must log in or sign up to post here.) Show Ignored Content Share This Page Tweet Your name or email address: Do you already have an account? No, create an account now. Yes, my password is: Forgot your password? Stay logged in
@IndieGraph first and foremost: congratulations on your first game and welcome to the TouchArcade forums. Well, let me give you some feedback. Level 5 so far, so I can honestly say I spent my fair share of time in-game to be able to give you some constructive criticism... Nah, just kidding. Nothing of sorts. Mostly praise from now on. Visually it’s really beautiful. A lot of details to admire even though not sooner than after actually failing. During the run it’s important to stay focused instead of looking around. I failed multiple times just because of that. The overall beauty is actually distracting. It has this Alto vibe which is definitely a plus. Especially day and night cycle is a work of art. I mean, dusk and dawn. Such a beauty. Physics is perfect. Everything feels very natural. Movement, interactions, inertia, the feel of weight.. it’s all there. It’s quite impressive if you ask me. The same goes to controls. Very responsive (which is a must in this type of game), very smooth and natural. The gameplay is relaxing and challenging at the same time. I love the procedurally generated levels. Every and each attempt is unique. Keeps you interested, forces you to stay focused. Every run is variable enough to offer the right amount of challenge. Ducking, sliding, braking and alternating between them is served in the right amount. It’s very unfortunate how this option is hidden in the settings. I didn’t realize I’m able to change visuals until I read this. I thought the sound volume is the only settings there. You need to make this more visible, more obvious. Especially because every single mode of those four is quite unique and equally stunning. Frankly, it’s pretty hard to pick up favorite. All of them are just awesome! So again. It needs to be more accessible. My only nitpick goes to braking sound. It doesn’t sound like braking - it’s more like a conductor’s whistle. Not that it matters or alter the overall experience. Just saying so I can criticize something. To sum it up the game’s work of art. As I mentioned before it has this Alto vibe despite being very different. I highly encourage everyone to give it a try. Game mechanics are fairly straightforward. No difficult introduction required, no steep learning curve present. It’s simple enough to pick up and enjoy. In short bursts or longer sessions. Highly recommended!
@macplash thank you for playing Paper Mines and special thanks for sharing your opinion! I’m really glad you like the game and I consider your post a huge compliment. Thanks! I love your constructive criticism : I already started working on a new update to make the landscape modes more visible. The work is still in progress. My current idea is to move the landscape mode to the main menu like this: The current main menu: Info —— Settings —— Start —— Workshop —— Level New main menu: Settings —— Landscape —— Start —— Workshop —— Level The content of the info button will be moved to Settings. I think nobody will miss the Info panel as part of the main menu. What do you think about this change? I know what you mean. I wanted to create all the sound effects by myself and the braking sound is actually a nail scratching on metal. (The wheel noise is a humming top on a wooden desk). Maybe I find something better. But as you mentioned it is not a pressing matter. I will release a new version of the game during next week. (I don’t know whether you will receive an update if you downloaded the game using a promo code.) Thanks again for your feedback!
Yes, the landscape settings is much easier to access now but the menu itself still doesn’t feel very natural. On the contrary. It’s quite confusing. For example, I don’t know if it’s a new addition, but up to this point I didn’t have a clue there’s difficulty settings. Or that you can switch between imperial and metric system. Not to mention, going deeper into menu (by tapping left on settings) means that going back is required by tapping right on start which makes no sense. I’m still navigating the menu, not starting anything. Also I encountered some broken menu buttons in new version. This never happened before. See screenshot attached below. And a few typos like your instead of you (level 4 description) etc. Nothing major obviously, just saying.
@macplash thanks, your thoughts are quite helpful! Now you mention it, the button label "Start >" might be confusing. Maybe the buttons should be labeled like this "< More Settings" "Return >". This might help. At the beginning I only had one settings panel. Over time I added more settings and today I ended up with this menu. Maybe I should rethink the menu design for the next major update. In the meanwhile I might change the button labels to make the menu a bit more obvious. Well, this is supposed to be a feature. But I think it isn't obvious enough . I uploaded an image to explain the idea. The buttons should look like they were projected on the paper diorama. Maybe this feature is irritating instead of beautiful. The player shouldn't associate this visual effect with a broken button. Maybe I should use a different effect for the UI.
First of all, the game truly has a potential and worth trying. This is what the game is about: - The setting menu doesn’t follow the traditional style. So, players might feel disoriented at first - The game is very simple with one finger swipe control. - The game is not forgiving as players will die a lot and there’s no checkpoint. - Players can feel relaxed and enjoy the natural atmosphere. But the mode can change quickly as players go thru the cave (it feels intense and a bit scary)
Hi everyone I started this thread three months ago. Since then, several gamers have provided valuable feedback about the game. The comments in this thread where very helpful – thanks! I spend the last three month working on a major update for Paper Mines to include some of your feedback. Luminous Crystals From now on you can find luminous crystals inside the mines. The crystals glow in various colors and you can smash large crystals with your hook. Miners use this crystals to produce luminous paint. Some obstacles inside the mines are highlighted with this paint and the mines are more colorful and interesting than before. The luminous paint is also used to decorate your mine cart - check out the workshop. Workshop A brand new workshop with more than 15 new upgrades for your cart. You can upgrade your cart with new wheels, brakes, shock absorbers and other items. Some of this items are made of crystals and glow in the dark! Improved UI Thanks to the comments above I realized that the UI might be confusing (or at least not self explaining). The new UI is white and without any projection. So the UI should be easier to read. Additionally, the menu navigation uses a scroll bar. This should make things clearer. Thank you @macplash and @Makara Nou Here are the new screenshots. Let me know what you think of the crystals and the new workshop.
Wow! Never heard of this until visiting here today. What a wonderful piece of digital treasure this is! Truly a great experience and feast for the eyes! Thanks for creating such gaming bliss for us! So worth the $5!
@HEiRAVON thanks a lot for your kind post! Unfortunately, I’m an amateur Indi developer with a limited budget and hardly anyone knows that my game exists. I have only little experience with app marketing. So I like to ask this community for help. So fare I wrote some mails to propose my game for review. I received a great review from Netzwelt, yet only a few people read Netzwelt. Any platform you could recommend? Can I propose my game for review on Touch Arcade? Paper Mines has a Facebook account (https://www.facebook.com/PaperMinesByGraphonium). I tried to use Facebook Ads but I’m not sure whether I selected the right customer group. If you like Paper Mines, maybe you could like, follow or share the Paper Mines page with your friends. Eventually this helps. Do you have any other suggestions? Any help is appreciated.
I haven’t really checked this page but popping in so it doesn’t show as unread the devs post made me want to look more at the game. It looks good and the comments here are encouraging and as a bonus it says it’s on sale so that’s even better! I’m just wondering what the gameplay cycle is? Is it similar to Summer Catchers and it’s ilk where you do runs, earn things to buy upgrades that may help you make it further the next time?
@ste86uk welcome to this thread! The Game Cycle Paper Mines is structured in 20 levels. The game has a data base with more than 200 predefined landscape sections (if you include any variation – like different flowers – there are more than 500 elements). A powerful random generator creates a new world for each run. Level 1 is the tutorial. In level 2 only the basic landscape elements are available. So the random generator creates a world only using the basic elements. To complete a level you have to complete a task for example: ride 2000m, smash 10 crystals or open 5 gates. Each level unlocks new landscape elements. This means the landscape gets more complex with each level. Upgrades are a new function in version 2.0. You can buy a better headlamp or better brakes for instance. I have played my game so often and I know all obstacles by heart, so I managed to play all 20 levels without upgrades – but this is a true challenge. However, you can also buy items that have no technical functionality. For example you can decorate your cart with a graffiti that glows in the dark or use wheels that emit luminous dusk. Paper Mines is a skill game. The game is putting your reaction time to the test while looking like a peaceful paper diorama. I hope this answer was helpful.
@IndieGraph thank you for your response, I’ve just purchased the game and will hopefully find time on the weekend to check it out.
